You know how this works. We are speaking to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink because he has something to plug. However, it is not that he has written a book, or had a cameo in a blockbuster, or is set to embark on the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.
His cause is closer to his heart than those reasons that entice celebrities to Graham Norton’s sofa. It is to do with racism, with Hasselbaink explaining his own experiences including supporters spitting at him while a striker for Atletico Madrid and still seething from what he witnessed in Benfica versus Real Madrid last month.
If found guilty of racially abusing Vinicius Jr, Gianluca Prestianni should not see the game again for a long time, he believes. Any supporters who performed monkey gestures at Vinicius need banning for life, he insists. And – he adds – Jose Mourinho is a hypocrite of the highest order for trying to blame Vinicius for his bold celebration.
‘If Mourinho can make that kind of mistake… I’m saying it was a mistake, but it was not really a mistake,’ Hasselbaink tells us in a case of one Chelsea great condemning another. ‘If Mourinho can do that, then that is the evidence for education.
‘What happened there really angered myself, really, really, really, and especially against Mourinho because he said Vinicius should not have celebrated like that.
‘We all know the iconic moments from Mourinho celebrating. At Old Trafford against Manchester United for Porto. For Chelsea. For Inter (Milan) in the Camp Nou, just standing there and provoking those fans. I loved it when he was expressing himself. For him to come out and say that really angered myself. We need to get it out of the game. Out of the game as quickly as possible.’
Hence why we are speaking, with Hasselbaink backing the development of the Football Safety App, a tool for reporting incidents from that device in your pocket to a 24-hour control room.
Hasselbaink is further angered when during the course of this conversation, he is told news has broken that Nigel Dewale, the 60-year-old man who sent racially abusive messages to England footballer Jess Carter during last year’s Women’s Euros via TikTok, will not see the inside of a cell because he has been sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
‘We need to be stronger and harder,’ Hasselbaink says. ‘People need to get a real punishment so that others will think twice of doing it as well. Six weeks, suspended for 12 months? He’s still walking free and can tell everybody what he did and how he did it and be proud of it.
‘There are more tools to put it (racist views) in people’s living rooms. When I was spat on, nobody heard about it. Only the people who were there knew that it happened and did nothing about it.
‘Now, everybody will know in the next few minutes. So, even though, yes, there are so many more quicker ways to get negativity into your living room, you can also flip it to the other side. I want to be positive. I need to be positive. If I’m not positive that there is a way forward in trying to make our game clean… then it’s better for me to stop now and not watch football ever again.’
Our talk turns to Chelsea, managed by Liam Rosenior. Hasselbaink has sympathy for Rosenior after seeing how he has been mercilessly mocked online ever since his arrival.
Daily Mail Sport reported last week how the Blues’ hierarchy are not interested in hastily changing head coaches again despite their four consecutive defeats – two by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and the others against Newcastle and Everton in the Premier League. They want to stick with the Englishman who signed a six-and-a-half-year contract in January.
Hasselbaink believes that stance needs reiterating to the players so they do not make the mistake of thinking Rosenior is just another manager passing through.
‘Obviously you need results, but the players need to know he’s going to be there, because when players know that he is going to be changed, that body language and their way of being is different,’ Hasselbaink says. ‘When they know the manager has the power to do everything… players react differently. It’s just a fact. They have to really back him, verbally, going out, but also internally. I think they’re doing that. I think if he can be there for years, we will have lots of success.’
We should mention Hasselbaink works occasionally as an ambassador for Chelsea. In April, he will be travelling to the city of Hanoi for the club’s first official visit to Vietnam.
While he will be a special guest at a meet-and-greet evening on Saturday April 18 at the Ho Tay Grand Ballroom at Ascott Tay Ho Hanoi, Chelsea fans back home will be staging a protest alongside Strasbourg supporters against their shared owners before their Premier League game versus Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Hasselbaink loves his former club, and tells us he only wants the best for them, as we continue to discuss Chelsea’s head coach. ‘He’s good enough,’ he adds of Rosenior. ‘I think he’s good enough. He knows his football, but it’s a result-based game.
‘Did the club think that (Enzo) Maresca was going to go when he did? Were they ready for that? I don’t think so, but here we are. They’ve given, very bravely, somebody like Liam the job.
‘When you do that very bravely, you need to give him all the chances to succeed and give him all the time. You need to take as much pressure away from him. I don’t know if that is possible, but internally, you need to really make him feel and know that he’s the man, and he’s going to go nowhere, so that he can do his job. That’s the only way I think he will succeed but I do think he has got the ability.’
Chelsea’s goals have dried up of late. Three consecutive games without scoring, and Joao Pedro being used as a striker with Liam Delap his deputy.
‘Chelsea need more goals in them,’ Hasselbaink says. ‘However you put that in the team, Chelsea needs more goals. They don’t have enough shots. They can improve in that area, but they can also improve by keeping more clean sheets.
#The club has decided, rightly or wrongly, to go only young. That is their prerogative. They need to give them time. You need to give that time because you’re not going to get instant success.’ Summing up, he adds: ‘The most important thing is, Chelsea need to finish in the Champions League for next year.’
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is backing the Football Safety app, a platform founded by former England striker Emile Heskey to report abuse in and around football. Organisations, leagues, clubs and supporter groups can register their interest at www.footballsafetyapp.com
